Flies and Flowers II: Floral Attractants and Rewards

By T. Woodcock, B. Larson, P. Kevan, David I. Inouye, K. Lunau. 2014

147 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This paper comprises Part II of a review of flower visitation and pollination by Diptera (myiophily or myophily). While Part I examined taxonomic diversity of anthophilous flies, here we consider the rewards and attractants used by flowers to procure visits by flies, and their importance in the lives of flies. Food rewards such as pollen and nectar are the primary reasons for flower visits, but there is also a diversity of non-nutritive rewards such as brood sites, shelter, and places of congregation. Floral attractants are the visual and chemical cues used by Diptera to locate flowers and the rewards that they offer, and we show how they act to increase the probability of floral visitation. Lastly, we discuss the various ways in which flowers manipulate the behaviour of flies, deceiving them to visit flowers that do not provide the advertised reward, and how some flies illegitimately remove floral rewards without causing pollination. Our review demonstrates that myiophily is a syndrome corresponding to elements of anatomical, behavioural and physiological adaptations of flower-visiting Diptera. The bewildering diversity of anthophilous Diptera and of the floral attractants and rewards to which they respond allows for only broad generalizations on myiophily and points to the need for more investigation. Ecological relationships between flies and flowers are critical to the survival of each group in many habitats. We require greater understanding of the significance of flies in pollination, especially in the face of recent pollinator declines.

Subfields: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Insect Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/4993bd1888f39470326274bdc882d0efa3cea82b

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

1. B. Larson
2. P. Kevan
3. Rita Földesi
4. I. Grass
5. P. Batáry
6. B. Howlett
7. David I. Inouye

In Insect Science

1. B. Larson
2. P. Batáry
3. B. Howlett
4. David I. Inouye

Citations in the corpus

• Larger pollinators deposit more pollen on stigmas across multiple plant species—A meta‐analysis (2020, background): “Despite such species are often flower visitors (Grass et al., 2016) and verified pollinators (Rader et al., 2012, 2016), their importance in the pollination of a broad range of crops has largely been overlooked (Inouye et al., 2015; Larson et al., 2001; Woodcock et al., 2014).”
• Non-bee insects are important contributors to global crop pollination (2015, unknown): “This crop pollination role is in addition to the well-established contributions that non-bees make to the reproduction of wild, native plant species (44, 57).”
• FLIES AND FLOWERS III: ECOLOGY OF FORAGING AND POLLINATION (2015, background): “In addition to drinking nectar, some flies also eat pollen (Larson et al. 2001; Woodcock et al. 2014), especially Syrphidae (Haslett 1989a; Haslett 1989b; Irvin et al. 1999; Rotheray & Gilbert 2011); some Bombyliidae (Deyrup 1988), Empididae (Downes & Smith 1969), Muscidae (Elvers 1980), Tabanidae…”